Bad Axe Theatre owner holds community dear

Mark Rolfe worked at the Bad Axe Theatre for nearly 30 years. He has owned the business since 2004. (Paul P. Adams/Huron Daily Tribune)

Mark Rolfe worked at the Bad Axe Theatre for nearly 30 years. He has owned the business since 2004. (Paul P. Adams/Huron Daily Tribune)

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Mark Rolfe worked at the Bad Axe Theatre for nearly 30 years. He has owned the business since 2004. (Paul P. Adams/Huron Daily Tribune)

Mark Rolfe worked at the Bad Axe Theatre for nearly 30 years. He has owned the business since 2004. (Paul P. Adams/Huron Daily Tribune)

Bad Axe Theatre owner holds community dear

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Editor's note: This feature is part of a Meet Your Merchants section featured in Saturday's Huron Daily Tribune. Visit www.michigansthumb.com on Sunday to read more stories featured in that edition, or pick up a copy of Saturday's Tribune at local retailers.

BAD AXE — The movie theater experience can be many things to many different people.

It can simply be a two-hour escape from the riggers of a tough day or week.

“It was Star Wars that changed me,” said Rolfe. “Every time I saw the opening crawl start, I would have some weird out of body experience. It’s hard to explain, but it’s what I want other people to experience too.

Added Rolfe: “For those two hours, everyone in the theater is a family. You’re all sharing that experience with each other. You can talk to a total stranger about the movie you just saw.

“It’s a really special and unique experience — and it can change your life.”

Rolfe has been offering the opportunity to experience those feelings to patrons since 2004, when he became owner of the theater.

Rolfe’s nearly 30 years working at the Bad Axe Theatre started with some humble beginnings.

In 1989, he was working at the theater just a couple of times per month as a projectionist. By 1994, Rolfe had expanded his role to manager.

After some soul searching, Rolfe made one of the biggest decisions of his life to purchase the business from Rick Ferris on April 16, 2004.

Rolfe recalled the feelings he had prior and after taking over as owner.

“I was excited, but I was terrified too,” he said. “I was scared of failing. I was really nervous that I was going to blow it.”

Rolfe’s first movie as a owner was “Passion of the Christ.”

Passion of the Christ pulled in over $600 million and was a success for the Bad Axe Theatre.

Although Rolfe has poured plenty of time and money into his business, he’s ultimately at the mercy of Hollywood.

Last year for example, was not a banner year for the movie industry. The slow year was felt by Rolfe and other theater owners.

“That’s why I like to do free movies every now and then,” he said. “Sometimes, the new stuff just doesn’t cut it. I want to give people the opportunity to have the theater experience.”

Most recently, the biggest improvement Rolfe has made to the theater was converting to digital in 2012.

It was not an easy or cheap decision to make the conversion, but it was necessary to keep the business operating, according to Rolfe.

“I kept denying the whole idea that film would ever go away,” he said. “The last two years of film, I would talk to my bookers, it was becoming increasingly difficult to get the prints.”

Bob Main, the late president of Bay Port State Bank, played an integral role in making the move happen.

“He would come into watch movies and he knew digital was coming,” Rolfe said. “He made it work.

“I managed to scrape up some money, including going into my retirement.”

Bad Axe’s digital conversion was top of the line in 2012.

“When I do something, I have to go all the way with it and not cut corners,” Rolfe said. “If I’m going to spend money, I want to have the best of the best. So we got the 4K, which was the highest quality out there at the time.”

The first movies featured in digital were “Skyfall” and “Flight.”

“It really looked and sounded awesome,” Rolfe said. “Digital looks perfect on the first showing and on the thousandth showing, it doesn’t get old.”

At 46, Rolfe has become known and respected for his role as owner of the Bad Axe Theatre.

“I like that people know me as the movie guy,” he said. “To me, the theater is a really important thing for this town. It brings culture in.”

A couple of decades ago, Rolfe could not have imagined himself being where he is now.

“I was so directionless at 26-27,” he said. “I was working here as the manager and I worked at the video store. Essentially, I was doing high school kid jobs.

“Turning 30 did it for me, it was a revelation for me — I was like ‘I need to grow up.’”

Rolfe doesn’t know what the future holds, but he is committed to providing the most enjoyable movie experience possible for the thousands of people who visit the historic building every year.

From 3D capability, to open captioning showings for the hearing impaired on Mondays, Rolfe wants to make the movie experience accessible to all.

Throughout the improvements, the prices have remained reasonable, at $6 for 4 p.m. shows and $7.50 for all other shows.

“I just want people to know that I’m doing the best that I can to progress this place,” Rolfe said. “Theaters are changing so much, seating is changing. I can only do what I can do. But if the opportunity ever arises to add a third screen or get more comfortable seats, I will explore it. I always want to keep improving."

Added Rolfe: “There’s a charm and character in these old theaters that I wish could stay open and keep showing movies to the public.

“There’s so much stuff to do now and you can get movies so quickly. But people have to know that they will never get the movie theater experience anywhere else.”